A review by featheryscribe
Theogony and Works and Days: A New Bilingual Edition by Hesiod

4.0

Kimberly Johnson has crafted a lucid and elegant translation of Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days. I had never heard of Hesiod - a poet contemporary to Homer - before reading this translation, and found the work enjoyable. If you're a fan of Robert Fagles' translation of The Iliad and The Odyssey, or Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, you'll similarly enjoy Johnson's rendering of Hesiod's works. Johnson's translation is likewise lyrical and linguistically intricate, but also clear and easily understood. Theogony is a genealogy of the gods, and details the overthrow of the Titans. Johnson argues that Hesiod continues his study of the divine order of the universe in a more earthly context in Works and Days, in which Hesiod lays out how to organize agricultural and maritime tasks throughout the year (the "works" part), as well as auspicious dates and months as ordained by Zeus (the "days" part). Interspersed in the Works and Days are a number of aphorisms and sayings, some of which apply as well today in the modern world as they did in ancient times (the sayings on gossip and falsehoods, for instance, ring all too true). Complementing Johnson's translation are helpful introductory sections and thorough notes, and those with a knowledge of Greek will enjoy this volume's bilingual format, to enable side-by-side Greek and English comparisons.

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read - great for the back-story of the Olympian gods, and for an interesting snapshot into everyday ancient Greek life and folk wisdom.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book.